Cancer survivor returns to claim victory on Tahoe Rim Trail

By Teri Vance

When Alison Chavez laces up her running shoes Saturday for this weekend’s Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, she’ll be looking for more than a finish. She’s out for redemption. Chavez, 40, first attempted the 100-mile trail run in 2013. Although she had competed in triathlons at the Ironman level and ran several 50-kilometer and 50-mile races, this was to be her first hundred miler. Just weeks before the race date, however, Chavez discovered a lump in her breast and was diagnosed with cancer. Her doctor encouraged her to go ahead with the race because treatment would leave her too weakened to continue her training. So she persisted.

“I think the stress of finding out I had cancer and having a lump growing in my chest, added to the fact that I had to start chemotherapy two days after the race, I ended up not finishing,” Chavez said. “I stopped at mile 68.” With little time for regret, Chavez returned to her Los Angeles hometown to start chemotherapy on the following Tuesday. For the next year, she turned her focus to survival, going through 20 rounds of chemo and seven major surgeries. Her endurance training was put on hold, but it served her during the treatment process. Not only was she physically strong with a high tolerance for pain, her experience helped her to be mentally tough.

“It helped give me some perspective,” she said. “When you think about running 100 miles in 35 hours, that’s a hard concept. If you take it in little chunks it’s an easier way to think about it.” Cancer treatment was much the same. “You have to break it down,” she said. “You try to conquer a bunch of mini goals.” There were other parallels as well. “You have ups and downs with both. You have triumphs and setbacks,” she related. “You just have to ride the highs and manage the lows.”

She continued to intermittently run shorter distances through her treatment, but she started training in earnest again after her final surgery in July 2014. In December of the same year, she completed her first 100-miler, Across the Years. Since then, she’s run two more, including the Western States Endurance Run. Last week, she traveled from her new home in Santa Rosa, Calif., to the Tahoe Rim Trail to familiarize herself with the course. Her boyfriend, Chris Bassett, who has run both the 100-mile and 50-mile distances, offered his expertise.

“He took me out there under the guise of showing me all the places that might still be covered in snow and how to get around them,” she said. “But out there on the first day of training, on the top of Snow Valley Peak, he proposed to me.” The trail, with its bittersweet memories, lost its sting. “Now, everything is happy, happy, joy, joy,” Chavez said. Still, she has unfinished business. “I see the Tahoe Rim Trail as coming full circle,” she said. “It’s the closing of the chapter on the whole cancer journey.” Collecting the finisher’s buckle on Sunday, she said, will give her sense of closure and victory. “I want to cross that finish line, get the buckle, and give George (Ruiz, race director,) a hug,” Chavez said. “It will be my way to say, ‘Screw you, cancer. I won!’”

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, go to trter.com.

Race director readies for Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run

By Teri Vance

There are many aspects that go into organizing an endurance race — the logistics of the course, permits, lottery registration, aid stations and more. But for George Ruiz, director of the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, his overarching motivation is helping the individual runner find the strength to cross the finish line. “A hundred miles will strip you to your rawest form,” Ruiz said. “When you get to that point, you have to find a way to pick yourself up and finish. You have to want to finish. It doesn’t happen by accident.” That’s why the aid station at Tunnel Creek — where hundred-mile runners often visit during the overnight hours — is staffed with veteran runners.

“You can keep going during the day, but at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, it’s hard to keep going. Literally everything on your body hurts,” Ruiz said. “You have to really want it, because there are too many reasons to stop. Those veterans can help talk them through it. It makes a big difference.” Ruiz, 60, began running in his mid-30s on the Prison Hill trails near his Carson City home. Starting with a 5K race, he then set a goal for a 10K. He kept going until he was running marathons and then 19 hundred-mile races, including Western States Endurance Run and the Tour du Mont Blanc in France. After discovering the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, he ran all of the distances — 50 miles, 50K and 100 miles — several times.

“It’s one of the greatest trails in the world,” he said. “It’s a real privilege to be able to run on it. It’s just an unbelievable trail and it’s in our backyard.” Ten years ago, he became assistant race director under David Cotter, who founded the run in 2001 with Kevin Bigley. This is his seventh year as director of the run, which is July 15 and 16, beginning and ending at Spooner Summit. “When I became race director, I had already done several hundred-milers,” Ruiz said. “I saw some really well-organized races, and I saw some races that were horribly organized. I took the best of everything I saw at other races and integrated it into one race.” Running his own business, Ruiz Insurance, since 1994, helps him have the discipline and organization for the logistical side of the race.

However, he said the main reason for his success has been the consistency of volunteers who coordinate aid stations and coordinate registration. Through a partnership with the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine Sports fellowship, interns help staff the aid stations and the finish line. “It’s a tremendous asset for the race,” Ruiz said. “It’s awesome.” Since taking over as race director, Ruiz has instituted a requirement where runners must complete eight hours of trail work. “It represents more than 2,000 hours of trail maintenance around the country,” he said. “I love that. Runners run and run on trails. As stewards of the trail, we have to give back.” He’s seen that shift in his own community.

“There’s been a tremendous trail-building effort in Carson City as well as in Carson Valley and Reno,” he said. “There were hardly any trails around here when I first started training.” The race sells out every year, with 600 names being chosen by lottery from about 1,100 applicants. He’s not surprised at the number of people vying to participate in the run. “It’s freedom,” Ruiz said. “It’s so different than running on the road. Your mind has to be engaged, you’re really aware of your surroundings, every foot plant. You become part of trail you’re running on and the beauty around it.” Finishing, he said, makes all the pain a worthwhile endeavor. “You gain self-respect because you made that commitment,” Ruiz said. “It’s going to be easy to stop, but you’ll regret it. When you finish, it’s the greatest high.”

YOU CAN HELP

To volunteer to help with the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, contact Kati Bell at TRTvolunteer@gmail.com. Volunteers do not need to be runners.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance Run, go to trter.com.

Artist uses work to share cultural insights

By Teri Vance

Although inspired by his Paiute and Arapaho heritage, Topah Spoonhunter’s artwork is intended for a broader audience. “The ideas passed down through tribal culture, I think a lot of people might dismiss as primitive,” he said. “But in my experience there’s a lot of knowledge that’s useful today. The spirit of my work can apply to anybody.” Spoonhunter, 34, grew up on the Big Pine Paiute Reservation in California where he still lives and creates his work. His artwork consists of a process.

“I start with just an idea,” he explained. “Depending on what that is, I may have to research it or look at different concepts.” The first step in the creation is a pencil drawing. “Once I get it to the level I want it to be at, I do a final sketch,” he said. “I’ll ink it.” The inked drawing is then scanned into the computer. “I use Photoshop to clean up the lines or add color for the final image,” he explained.

He sells his creations online and at different shows and powwows. Pieces of his graphic designs, as well a painting on a skateboard, are included in the The Great Basin Native Artists show on display at the Carson City Visitors Bureau, 716 N. Carson St., through June 19. Spoonhunter, who works for Inyo County Health and Human Services, also sells his artwork in the form of T-shirts, prints and stickers. But that wasn’t always the case. “As long as I can remember, I was always drawing something,” he said. “I never took it too seriously. It was just something I did.”

After graduating from Haskell University where he played basketball and earned a business degree, he started to see design not only as an economic opportunity but a way to share his culture with the world. “My ancestors had a very good understanding of the natural world, about people and how society’s work. There’s a balance in nature,” he said. “As humans, it’s our responsibility to make sure the balance continues, not just for nature’s sake but for our own. Native people understood that what happens to the Earth happens to us. That is something I like to portray in my work.” He often finds himself drawn to depicting animals.

“As Native people, they had a really strong connection with plants and animals,” he said. “My ancestors learned from animals. They depended on animals for life, but animals have their own wisdom. In a way, they may be more wise than we are in the way they live their lives.” He feels a calling to use his art as a way to promote his culture to serve humanity. “My parents always did what they could to help people and make things better,” he said. “It’s something they instilled in me. It’s my obligation to make things better, and it’s something I do with my work. “I hope people who see my work are inspired to live a better life and maybe make a better world.”

Volunteers key to building, maintaining trails

By Teri Vance

Johanna Foster, an ecologist and adjunct biology professor at Western Nevada College, moved to Carson City a year ago. The first organization she joined was Muscle Powered. She believes in Muscle Powered’s mission to create more walkable and bikeable community. “I love being outdoors and hiking, just being around nature,” she said. “Human beings need to be connected to open space. People will protect the environment if they understand it. They’re interested in protecting what they know.” Foster recently joined the group on an outing to repair the Ash to Kings Canyon Trail in the mountains west of town. “This is such a treasure we have in Carson City,” Foster said. “In 15 minutes from town, you’re walking in the wilds.” The 7-mile trail will be the centerpiece of this year’s Carson City Off-Road mountain bike race as the trails around Lake Tahoe are still covered in snow. Crew leader Oliver Lieder said the race, part of the Epic Rides series, is a testament to the work volunteers have done to create and maintain the three-year-old trail. “I think it’s surreal and exciting at the same time,” Lieder said. “It’s really cool they chose this area for the race, it wouldn’t be here without the trail, I don’t think.” Volunteer crews have been working to repair the trail after damage caused by heavy snowfall, and rain.

“A mudslide put about three feet of mud on the trail,” said Jeff Potter, who initiated the building the trail and organizes volunteers. “The water kept running, creating a channel which undercut below and gave way. That’s not fun for riders.” Potter said they expect to have 2,000 trips on the trail during the race. Muscle Powered is working with Epic Rides to get signs printed and installed to warn riders of upcoming turns. “You come into these turns hot and you’re concerned about your time,” Potter said.” If you don’t know they’re coming, you’re going to have some skid turns.” Epic Rides is helping Muscle Powered maintain area trails with the Hail the Trail fundraiser, raffling off three mountain bikes. The proceeds from the raffle with benefit trail-building organizations — including Muscle Powered — in the three communities that host races for Epic Rides.

“Single-track trails don’t just appear as if by magic,” said Randy Gaa, Muscle Powered secretary. “There are years of planning, permitting, and back-breaking work that go into building a trail system. When an organization like Epic Rides offers to help out with financial support, it’s always a big deal, helping move a lot of the process forward so that the entire community can enjoy the outdoors.” Lieder, who met Potter while out on the trails in Carson City, has jointed Potter in the effort to build the trail since they broke ground in 2012. He said his motivations are similar to Potter’s.

“I wanted to be out on the trails that were close to my home, “ Lieder said. “Jeff’s vision for this has been wonderful.” Dave Johnson, a physical therapist, feels a sense of duty to help with the building of upkeep of the trails. “I use these trails three to four days a week,” he said. “It’s pure altruism.” Although the work can be strenuous, Potter said, it is always worth it, especially this spring as pine needles are scattered across the trail and an array of wildflowers are in bloom. “Man, this is cool,” he said. “It’s really neat seeing that type of life happening.”

Native artist paints her experience

By Teri Vance

Topaz Jones grew up hearing a story about her grandfather working cattle with a bunch of ranch hands near the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Owyhee, where her family is from. As the story goes, one of the men went to check out a body of water nearby. As he approached, he could hear a baby crying. The cries got louder and louder the closer he got. Alarmed, he tossed his lasso into the water. “When he did that, he got pulled in,” Jones recalled. “It freaked him out so bad that he jumped on his horse and ran all the way back to camp.” Her grandfather explained the Native American lore about babies who live in the water.

“If you ever hear a baby in the water, stay away,” he told them. Jones brought that story to life in her painting, “Where the Water Babies Grow,” depicting a riderless horse, a rope dangling in the water and babies beneath the surface. “I had a teacher who told me, ‘Paint what you know,’” Jones said. “I always try to think of my own experience.” Even the name of the painting comes from a phrase she heard her great-aunt use. “She brought me some sweet grass once and said, ‘I picked this where the water babies grow,’” Jones recalled. While this painting is a literal depiction of her Western Shoshone heritage, most of her work is more symbolic.

“I’m definitely a contemporary artist,” she explained. “I don’t do traditional Native artwork. When I create my work, I think a bit about where people left off with designs and painting, and I incorporate that. I think about evolving it forward, using tradition as a source of inspiration then adding to it.” Her paintings were part of the original display at the Carson City Visitors Bureau, 716 N. Carson St., as part of the Great Basin Native Artists exhibit. The two-part exhibit kicked off in February with the first group of five artists. The second set of artists is now on display. Jones grew up with artistic parents, but both had all but given up their pursuits by the time she was born. But they recognized the genes had been passed down to her. “I was always drawing,” she said. “I was always shy.

I didn’t do sports and I kept to myself a lot, just doing art. They knew I had a talent.” Her father encouraged her to attend the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, where she now lives. She and her fiance, Daniel McCoy, are both contemporary Native American artists and involve their children in what they do. “My children are my world,” she said. “I grew up in powwow so I do that with my children. I make their regalia.” In addition to painting, Jones is also into sculpture, print making, photography and bead work. “Everything I do in my life is about Native people, Native culture and Native life,” Jones said. “I’m always working with my people and my culture. My artwork is an expression of that.”

Shooting the wilds of Nevada

By Teri Vance

Not quite fitting in at school where he grew up in the farming community of Sutter, Calif., Larry Burton often retreated to the nearby Sierra Buttes. “I ended up running around those buttes all my growing up years,” he said. “It became my little sanctuary.” That penchant for finding reprieve and beauty in the solitude of the outdoors pointed him to his first occupation with Fish and Wildlife, and provided the backdrop for his current career as a photographer documenting some of Nevada’s wildest places. “It’s such an incredible experience to me,” he said. “You have to wait for this quiet moment, and then you see it. That’s what keeps me coming back.”

After graduating high school a year early in 1974, Burton went to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Big Pine Fish Hatchery in the Owens Valley near Bishop, Calif. “That was a blessed existence,” he said. He’d started taking pictures in high school and bought his first serious camera, a 35 mm SLR Nikon, in 1980. He read a couple of books, but lived too far from any college to take classes. “The learning curve was tough, but I struggled through it a couple of years,” he explained.

Serendipity shined on him when he found a camera bag full of lenses and commercial camera bodies. Unable to find contact information, he took out an ad in the paper and tracked down the owner, Sharon Collins. In her gratitude, Collins hooked Burton up with some workshops at the University of San Francisco. Luck continued to turn in his favor when wildlife photographer Arthur Richards stopped by the hatchery looking for advice on where to find elk. “I told him, I get off at 4,” Burton recalled. “By 4:30, I had him in the middle of 30-40 elk. He was just jumping up and down. I realized then I had a special skill set because I knew the area so well.” The two formed a partnership where Burton showed him around the backcountry, and Richards tutored Burton in technique. “He became a good mentor,” Burton said. “We shot together for a year and a half, and that’s when I started getting the good stuff.”

In 1988, he transferred to the Gallagher Fish Hatchery in Ruby Valley, a ranching community about 60 miles from Elko. Nevada was already a second home to Burton who had spent a lot of time in the state as a child visiting his mom’s Yerington hometown. “Most people can picture living on a ranch,” he explained. “It’s exactly like living on a ranch, but instead of cattle, it’s fish. You have to feed them every day. You can’t put them out to pasture, it’s 24/7 stand-by duty.” He continued shooting on evenings and weekends, getting published on regional phone book covers and winning local awards. After 20 years in Ruby Valley, he retired in early 2009 with the goal of becoming a full-time photographer. Initially, he intended to base his business off of the same model as hunting guides where he would take photographers into the wilderness to shoot landscapes and wildlife.

However, the structure has evolved mostly into doing contract work — shooting stock images for Indian County and rural communities along Interstate 80 known as the Cowboy Corridor — and giving workshops and clinics, including a presentation at the recent tourism convention Rural Roundup in Elko. His tells participants they don’t need the best equipment, but they do need to be thoughtful about the images they’re making. “I learned how to do it when you had to pay 50 cents a print,” he said. “That’s a lot when you’re a working stiff. I still want to make the best image I can out of my camera. It’s not hard, but it takes a minute.”

Burton, who has one son, Lloyd, has lived in Carson City with his girlfriend Terry Sumner for the past five years. He finds plenty to photograph on his daily walks, but continues to travel the state. “Part of the reason I get these bids is because I know the state so well,” he said. “I put 20,000 miles on my truck every year, and 90 percent of that is in Nevada.” The best part, he said, is sharing his images with people who otherwise wouldn’t get to see the places he’s been. On second thought, he concludes, all of it is the best part. “I have been blessed right down the pipe,” Burton said. “I loved my work on the fish hatcheries. I’ve lived in some of the best places in the West. I’ve got no complaints. It’s all been a good ride. Even with the backaches and pains, I go to bed with a smile on my face most nights.”

Follow Larry Burton on Facebook to see his images. Contact him for clinics at fishtek@live.com or (775) 389-9573.

Race director promotes love of running

By Teri Vance

A baseball star at Reed High School in Sparks, EJ Maldonado went on to play at Southern Idaho College. After graduation, he went to the University of Nevada, Reno then into a career as the coordinator for the Western Regional Specialty Courts. With baseball behind him, he settled into a sedentary life, letting the athlete inside him go dormant. “When I was done playing, I was done with that level of activity,” he said. “I got complacent.”

He stopped paying attention until six years ago, when he realized he weighed 300 pounds. “This is not who I am,” he recalled thinking. “I know who I am.” In addition to overhauling his diet, Maldonado started running. At first, he stayed on his treadmill, then he worked up the nerve to run in his neighborhood. “I finally got up the confidence to get out on the trails,” he recounted.

He moved to Carson City to be closer to family in 2009. While running trails on Prison Hill, he met fellow runners from the Tahoe Mountain Milers. “That changed everything,” he said. “Once I joined the running club, it took me to the next level. I started seeing the potential of what’s out there.” Down to 170 pounds, he started running ultra distances, completing races up to 100 miles long, and has since become president of the club. He’s now come full circle, serving as co-race director of the Escape From Prison Hill Half Marathon, 10K and 5K in April.

Damage from winter snowfall and recent rains called for an alternate route to the traditional half marathon this year. “I’ve run it six or seven times now,” he said. “It’s great.” The 5K was added last year to open the race up to all levels. “It’s by no means flat, but it’s a good mixture,” he said. “It’s a great introduction to trail running and to Prison Hill. You can hike the hills and run down. It’s a good chance to come out and get feet on the trail without worrying about time.” Not only does Maldonado promote the race, he promotes running in Carson City in general.

“This is the mecca for outdoors, without a doubt,” he said. “The sunrises here are the best. You can run 12 months out of the year, any time of the day.We are a hidden gem in Northern Nevada.” He said he can be running on a trail within two minutes of his house and makes a point to include his sons, 16 and 11, while his wife often mountain bikes. “It’s really important to me that they get connected,” he said. “You can still feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but civilization is not far away. This is stuff you can’t see from your front porch.” Still, every time he hits the trail, he tries to remember how far he’s come. “It’s a bit surreal,” he said. “I don’t ever want to forget what it was like in the beginning. I never want to take this for granted. I had 15 years that I didn’t appreciate living life. I want to make sure that never happens again.”

Hail the Trail

Mountain bike fundraiser extended through Monday

By Teri Vance

Mountain bike enthusiasts will have a few more days to enter the raffle to win a new bike as a fundraiser for Epic Rides.

“With our Off-Road Series ending June 18, we want to round out the season the best way we know how – giving back to our local trail associations,” said Zoë Loffreda, marketing manager for Epic Rides. “By extending our Hail The Trail Program, it allows for more riders and trail lovers to get involved after experiencing some top-notch riding at the Carson City Off-Road. We are incredible close to reaching our $30,000 goal, but we need your help!”

Participants will have until 5 p.m. Monday to purchase $4 raffle tickets for the chance to win one of three mountain bikes from Ibis, Salsa and Norco while also supporting trail-building organizations, including Carson City’s Muscle Powered.

Hail the Trail is a fundraiser organized by Epic Rides, the company that brings in the annual Carson City Off-Road mountain bike race — one of three in the nation. The deadline was pushed back from Friday until Monday.

Tickets can be purchased at epicrides.com/hailthetrail. All proceeds will be divided evenly between Muscle Powered, the Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance in Prescott, Ariz., and the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Association in Grand Junction, Colo. All the organizations maintain existing and build new trails in each of their communities, which host Epic Rides mountain bike races.

“Epic Rides’ Hail the Trail fundraiser is a win/win for everyone involved,” said Randy Gaa, secretary of Muscle Powered, Carson City’s trail-building organization dedicated to creating a more walkable and bikeable community. “People who participate get a chance to win a high-end mountain bike, and trail organizations like Muscle Powered benefit by getting additional resources to help build and maintain the trails in our community.”

Three winners will be chosen at random and will receive either a Norco Optic C7.1 or any Ibis Bike, including the brand new Ripley LS, or a Salsa Deadwood 29+, fully equipped with components from SRAM, RockShox, Stan’s NoTubes and Maxxis. The bikes with components have a retail value of more than $6,000 each.

Cycling Twins Set Sight On Second Carson City Off Road

By Teri Vance

Mallory and Molly Otto, both 18, were new to mountain biking last year when the Carson City Off-Road came to town.“We decided to just try it out,” Molly said. “We did the 15-mile course, and it was a struggle for us. Mal and I like to downhill, and this had a lot of uphill.”

As high school athletes — playing soccer at Carson High School all four years, three at the varsity level — the girls said mountain biking brings its own set of endurance requirements.“Even though we were in shape, it’s a different kind of shape,” Mallory said. “You don’t normally use your legs going in circles and circles. Truthfully, we had to walk parts of it.”
Now, with an additional year of experience under their handlebars, the girls are much more confident going into this year’s Carson City Off-Road on June 16-18. The race, sponsored by Epic Rides, offers 15-, 35- and 50-mile courses.

While relatively new to mountain biking, the Ottos have a strong cycling background. The twins were 5 years old the first time they visited a BMX track.

“That first day was so hard,” Molly recalled. “We couldn’t even get up that first hill.”They solved that problem with the same approach they’ve taken to mountain biking. “We just kept going and going,” Mallory said.

The two competed regularly and were likely to become pros when they were faced with a decision between BMX and playing soccer. With their final soccer season over, they are now free to spend more time cycling when not in school or at work. And they know they always have a riding a buddy — and photographer.

“You always have a friend,” Mallory said. “And if we want to just mess around, she’ll be the picture taker and and I’ll ride. Then we’ll switch.” This year’s unusually wet winter and spring, along with early nights, has not deterred them. “It’s still fun to ride in the rain,” Mallory explained. “One of the funnest parts is bringing lights, and you just ride like a regular day.”

The weather has influenced the race itself, however. Because the trails in the higher elevation are still covered in snow, the course has been altered to become varying numbers of laps mostly on the Ash to Kings Canyon trail.

While they are better prepared this year, the Ottos are still planning to compete in the 15-mile race this year to accommodate their boyfriends who will be riding for the first time this year.

The girls, who both plan to attend Western Nevada College after graduation, are setting their sights on professional downhill mountain biking racing. In the meantime, they’re making their peace with the climbing. “You’ve got to get downhill somehow,” Molly explained. “After you go uphill, you feel really rewarded, then you get rewarded again by getting to go downhill.”

Still, they’re not completely convinced. “We kind of cheat sometimes and have our dad drive us up the uphill part,” Mallory said.

Epic bike raffle to support trail building

A new fundraiser, Hail the Trail, being launched by Epic Rides will give the public a chance to win one of three mountain bikes from Ibis, Salsa and Norco while also supporting trail-building organizations, including Carson City’s Muscle Powered.

“Hail the Trail is a terrific way to raise funds for trails while rewarding three supporters with three incredibly nice bikes, said Todd Sadow, Epic Rides president and co-founder. “Our friends at the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship have proven this fundraising model with their 5 Bucks a Foot campaign, so we’ve put our own little twist on it with substantial support from event sponsors to help support three non-profit organizations that are critical to the success of the Off-Road Series.”

Raffle tickets are $4 each and can be purchased at epicrides.com/hailthetrail. All proceeds will be divided evenly between Muscle Powered, the Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance in Prescott, Ariz., and the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Association in Grand Junction, Colo. All the organizations maintain existing and build new trail in each of their communities, which host Epic Rides mountain bike races.

“Single-track trails don’t just appear as if by magic,” said Randy Gaa, Muscle Powered secretary. “There are years of planning, permitting, and back-breaking work that go into building a trail system. When an organization like Epic Rides offers to help out with financial support, it’s always a big deal, helping move a lot of the process forward so that the entire community can enjoy the outdoors.”

Three winners will be chosen at random on June 24 and will receive either a Norco Optic C7.1, any Ibis Bike including the brand new Ripley LS, or a Salsa Deadwood 29+, fully equipped with components from SRAM, RockShox, Stan’s NoTubes and Maxxis. The bikes with components have a retail value of more than $6,000 each.

“When Epic Rides approached Ibis about donating a bike to benefit their Hail the Trail effort, there was no hesitation on our part,” Scot Nicol, founder of Ibis Cycles. “Giving back to the people who build and maintain the trails we all ride should be a foundation of every business involved in our sport. It is with Ibis and will continue to be. We are happy to participate and know that Epic Rides will do it right, like they do with all of their events.”